About

National Tile Museum Lisbon, Portugal

Earth. Books. Art. Yoga. Long standing, I have loved the natural world and its wonders, along with the arts. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, near the glacier covered North Cascades Mountains in Washington State. As a child, I hiked soft pine-needled trails in forests of Douglas fir and scented cedar along the waters of the Salish Sea.

I have lived, worked, and studied in West Africa, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Adventure defines my life; as does my love of the unknown and the visual arts and literature of the world. I’ve driven the Pan-American Highway and explored the artistic wonders along the way; owned a camel in the Sahara desert of Niger, West Africa and created with nomadic artists; painted endangered plants in the Peruvian Amazon; rowed an open dory for 40 days among the obscure islands off the coast of Brazil where I started writing my first historical novel; and trekked in the Himalayas of Nepal seeking ancient matriarchal meditative sites.

It is no wonder I write fiction, for it is yet another way to explore — to journey.

I write art-inspired historical fiction about little-known or overlooked artists, art innovations or movements, and patrons of the arts who’ve shaped the world of art.

My debut historical novel, Cut From The Earth, is a story of a Portuguese tile maker who harbors an illicit female designer to free the enslaved with art and escape the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755.

This book is the first of The Tile Maker Series.

Also, I write memoir. When She Wakes, an anthology of women’s firsthand accounts of Kundalini awakening is underway.

I have a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Arts from Whitman College. I have published fiction in literary journals American Athenaeum and Lalitamba. I’ve written features for the Historical Novel Review and created interview book review series for the Historical Novel Society. I speak publicly at Historical Novel Society conferences in the United States and England.

I divide my time between the mountains of the Pacific Northwest of the United States and southern coast of Brazil. Nestled in the once massive Atlantic Rain Forest, a woodland that used to run the length of the Brazilian coast. Today 5-7% of this great jungle, older than the Amazon, is still intact. Despite its reduced size and its listing as the second most endangered rain forest in the world, (after Madagascar’s) the Brazilian Mata Atlantica can boast more indigenous tree species per hectare than any other forest in the world.

This is where I write, teach yoga, and create.

Thank you for visiting.

Regards,

sig-3

8 thoughts on “About

  1. Now, while I’m writing from my home in the Pacific NW (precisely in “Meyer Woods” in Portland, OR), I’ll think of you once living in the rain forests of WA state and now in Brazil. Aren’t the trees and undergrowth just luscious? We have 20+ old growth firs on our property, along with cedars and one pine, plus many azaleas and rhodies, and things we’ve yet to define. 🙂

  2. And I am writing from a second floor former-bedroom in my little stone house in the northeast kingdom (for this is what the northeast corner is called) of Vermont. How marvelous that we can connect around the globe. Thank you for your walking meditation. I am motivated to make it a more permanent part of my morning routine, even with snowshoes on!

    • Janet- Wonderful! Sorry to take so long in getting back to you. I found your message here in my spam. Happy walking and meditating! Regards, Stephanie

  3. Hey, Stephanie. Just wanted you to know that I’ve become a faithful blog reader, and can’t wait to catch up on the posts that I’ve missed!

    Pat

  4. Pingback: Appreciating Art Through Fiction – Tori Whitaker

  5. Stephanie,

    I won 10 of your books “ Cut From the Earth”. They arrived today at my house. I was so excited. We have our book club meeting tomorrow Thursday November 18th. I will share the books with the group. We will probably discuss your book at our January meeting. Thank you again for the books. I am excited to read it.

    Marsha Hicks

    • Hi Marsha!

      Fantastic! I am happy to know they arrived. Me too! I am excited for you all to get into the story. Please know that I am also open and available to meet with you and the book club by Zoom if you’d like! I have book club discussion questions I can send you all ahead of time and then we decided a day and time to connect by Zoom. You can all be in person or Zooming from your own homes. Whatever works best for you and your group. It is a fun way to exchange on the novel, enriching everyone’s experience of the story. So, please let me know if this something you’d like to do and we can set it up for your January meeting.

      Gratitude for your thank you! Enjoy!

      Happy reading!

      Best~

      Stephanie Renee dos Santos

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